


Peripheral Systems

by Vector



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Community: gen_challenge, Gen, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-21
Updated: 2007-06-21
Packaged: 2017-10-02 19:32:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vector/pseuds/Vector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For prompt: <i>What it means to be a sky pirate -- the glorious and the inglorious.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Peripheral Systems

Balthier almost didn't notice the shift, for a moment. It was subtle, as always, and most of his attention that wasn't on the physical aspects of piloting was on Vaan and Penelo's energetic debate behind him.

"No, you see, having the shield helps. There was this one time when I—"

But he'd heard stories of mechanical failure of this sort, and so when he felt the slight lurch his attention snapped to focus. He could be imagining it, but his inner ear told him they were riding a bit off-level. He glanced sideways. "Fran?"

She was already frowning at the console. "I will have a look." She stood and headed back for the engine room. Balthier turned back to the controls. The off-balance feeling was making his stomach queasy already. Or maybe that was the dread at what could happen. He glanced over to see where they were. At least not over water, anymore...

"Yes, Vaan, I know. I was there too." Balthier could hear the eye roll in Penelo's voice. "I'm just saying that you should take the situation into consideration—"

Balthier's hearing blanked out when the _Strahl_ lurched again. A few seconds later Fran was coming back down the gangway. The look on her face—completely blank, of course, but blank in that terrible way he'd never wanted to see again—told him all he needed to know.

"Right," he said loudly, breaking into Vaan and Penelo's conversation. "We're going in for a landing."

"What?" Vaan responded after a moment. "We can't be at Balfonheim yet. You mean setting down anchor somewhere?"

"No," said Balthier, his voice light and his teeth only slightly gritted. "I mean _landing_. Ground landing. Right now. You may want to wake Ashe and Basch."

Penelo's face paled and she nodded, moving away to the back cabin where the other two lay. Vaan blinked in disbelief a few times. "I didn't even know airships could land like that. Isn't it dangerous?"

"Oh, certainly," Balthier said over his shoulder with forced cheer. "And you're correct that most larger ships cannot."

Fran settled back in her seat. Her eyes danced over the control panel. "The crystal in Cerobi is undoubtedly closest. Only a bit north of here."

"I'll try for it, then." He changed their heading and began the _Strahl_'s aggressive descent.

He heard the sound of footsteps behind him again and turned to see Penelo looking at him, eyes wide. "They're awake," she said unnecessarily, as Basch was a few steps behind her.

"What's the problem?" he asked, voice gravelly from sleep.

"That we won't know for certain until we land, I'm afraid."

Vaan jumped up. "But you know _something's_—"

"Vaan, you may want to sit down, if you like your head in its current configuration." Balthier didn't raise his eyes from his instruments. "In fact, everyone should be sitting securely and, ideally, quietly, right now. This may get interesting."

***

It was interesting, but not, as it turned out, as bad as Balthier had expected. The worst part was almost the awkward way the elegant _Strahl_ stood on her landing struts when she came still. Still, Balthier evicted everyone from the ship while he and Fran inspected the engine.

He came to his own conclusion quickly, but he still didn't breathe until Fran said. "The skystone is stable. The engine appears fine. Fuel flows adequately. It must be something in the peripheral system."

He nodded. "And all the better, for the engine would be hell to fix at this juncture." He stood from his crouch with a groan. "Not that it's likely to be something easily patched in any case. Well, let's brief our entourage, and then we can get on with our search." He gathered the proper tools to open bits of the hull and followed Fran outside.

"I am afraid we will be grounded for necessary repairs until further notice. Go about your business." His voice was flat and he attempted to discourage debate with a look.

Ashe opened her mouth to complain, but stopped, which gratified Balthier slightly. At least he still had authority when it came to his ship.

Instead she strapped her sword to her back and walked off, probably looking for something to kill. Basch followed her, of course.

Vaan, of course, often had problems with "brief." Nor did he seem to understand "necessary repairs."

"Balthier! We were flying fine!"

"For the moment, perhaps, Vaan. But one of the immutable rules of piloting is that when your ship complains, you stop and listen." Fran, implacable, had already gone to work. Balthier settled in as well and began to unsnap a panel of the hull. Vaan was undeterred.

"I thought being a sky pirate meant ignoring the rules! Going where you want! Doing what you want!"

"Ah. A common misconception. Being a sky pirate," said Balthier, his voice echoing slightly through the compartment he was inspecting, "means operating an independent airship. Everything else is extra." He lifted his head in order to look pointedly at Vaan. "And if we attempted to fly the _Strahl_ at this moment in time, we would regret it in fairly short order, I assure you."

"But we have things to _do_!"

Balthier ignored Vaan and went back to his wires. He heard an irritated sigh from Vaan, and then footsteps on the grass. Going to find Basch or Ashe, no doubt. Their task was much more straightforward.

However, Vaan's footsteps slowed as Penelo asked, "Do you know what's the matter?" Balthier restrained a smile. Perhaps the boy _could_ be taught.

Fran, near another open panel higher on the _Strahl_'s hull, answered. "I suspect an energy conduit is faulty. I could see the uneven flow—We're not getting enough lift from the skystone to one side of the ship."

Penelo considered that for a moment. "What happens if we try to fly with it like this?"

"Eventually, we crash." Balthier stated flatly. "Skystone without the proper mechanics is just another rock."

Vaan darted back over to the ship. "But we couldn't possibly tell there was a problem if we didn't have a viera on board!"

Fran's snort was barely audible. "Not quite," said Balthier, lips quirking as he sat up, closing up his panel and moving to another. "With practice, you can tell when she's riding off balance." His smile faded as he remembered. "I've never felt it as bad as this time, though. I hear tell that a lot of the time the first people notice it is when their ship starts flying full tilt towards the ground."

"And so we landed as soon as we could," continued Penelo, and Balthier nodded. "Okay. Why near a crystal?"

"Well, I'm sure you know about the dangers of germinite clouds." Vaan and Penelo nodded almost in unison, and Vaan glanced around as if expecting something to leap out and devour the _Strahl_ at that very moment. He couldn't blame him. The sense of wrongness at having his ship on the ground nagged constantly.

Balthier coughed. "They're too small to see, of course, but they're just a breed of mimic like any other." Balthier pulled off the next panel and leaned in to examine the cabling. "Which means, like any other creature, they're repelled from the crystals." He tugged a bit of the cable into the sunlight for closer inspection. "In theory."

"In _theory_?" Vaan repeated incredulously.

"Yes, well, I hardly have the equipment necessary to verify the theory. Our anchor does seems to erode less when we put it down near a crystal. Sometimes your best guess is all you get." He stuffed the cable back in. "I would still like our stay on the ground to be as short as possible, though."

Closing his panel, Balthier changed his tone. "This one looks fine as well. Fran?"

"I may have found it." There was a muffled sound as she shifted position. "Yes. The rear left conduit is cracked." She paused. "The one we just bought, if truth be told."

"Damn!" Balthier maneuvered his way up to have a look. "I knew V'garr's prices were too good."

"Indeed." Fran's smile was faint. They needed to get her back up in the air.

"Well, we can splice it though to the front for now. But as soon as we reach a hangar we'll have to go shopping. It's a lucky turn we're nearest Balfonheim; I wouldn't want to try to do this sort of business covertly in Archades." Balthier sighed. "I would like to register a request that noble quests be better paid. Even getting some real gil from a hunt would be nice."

Vaan laughed.

"How long will the fix take?" Penelo asked anxiously. "If there are germinites around, they're eating away at the _Strahl_ as we speak, right?"

"A few minutes at most," Fran answered.

"Fortunately." Added Balthier. "Go round up our friends, if you would?"

They both nodded and began to run away. Vaan nearly tripped over himself briefly as he stopped for a moment. "When we take off, will you show me how it works?"

"Not this time, Vaan. Time is of the essence." Vaan positively _drooped_, and Balthier gave in. "But as soon as we get her fixed. I promise."

Vaan's grin threatened to attack his ears before he turned to follow Penelo.


End file.
